OHL team quits for coach

[MiracleOfO2704]

I saw a few people talk about this on Twitter last night, but the OHL's Flint Firebirds might have seen their entire team quit after the entire coaching staff was fired.

Firebirds owner Rolf Nilsen was allegedly displeased with the amount of playing time that his son, 17-year-old rookie defenceman Håkon Nilsen, has been receiving, according to Yahoo! Sports Canada.

ESPN's John Buccigross also tweeted that all 24 players then went on strike by storming upstairs to the front office, throwing their jerseys to the ground then walking out.

This isn't the NHL or any other pro league, so if this is a legitimate problem, it's not like they can just call up 24 more guys to dress for the weekend or anything like that. At the same time, how is this being received by NHL teams, both for those drafted and those draft-eligible this year? And how does the OHL respond? These guys were the Plymouth Whalers before this year, so it's not like this is some long-time respected owner coming in and showing a knack for making the right move.

 

[DJnVa]

So, when he says "all players went on strike" he means except for the 17 year old kid?

That's going to be a fun locker room if they resolve this.

 

[MiracleOfO2704]

So, when he says "all players went on strike" he means except for the 17 year old kid?

That's going to be a fun locker room if they resolve this.

Nope. Apparently, he quit too.

Bucci's tweet from the story:


I mean, when you lose your own kid...

 

[RIFan]

So, when he says "all players went on strike" he means except for the 17 year old kid?

That's going to be a fun locker room if they resolve this.

Nope, owner's son quit too.

 

[DJnVa]

Ha, awesome.

 

[Over Guapo Grande]

Flint Firebirds coach John Gruden and assistant coach Dave Karpa have been re-hired less than a day after they were fired by first-year owner Rolf Nilsen..

Rolf Nilsen released a statement tonight admitting he made a mistake

“Last night, after our emotional shoot-out game against the Oshawa Generals, I made a decision with regards to our coaching staff, which was an irresponsible mistake,” Nilsen said in the statement. “This morning, we took steps to immediately reinstate the coaches. Today, the team’s senior leadership met with the players to apologize and have a very frank discussion about next steps leading to a resolution.”
.

Story here

 

[cshea]

This thing has gotten messy again. The owner fired the coaches (again) yesterday. Today, the OHL suspended the owner and hockey operations personnel on the team. The OHL is essentially running the team now. Wild stuff.

 

[McDrew]

I saw a report that the only player to show up for the optional skate yesterday morning was the Owner's son. Gotta feel for that kid. His dad is singlehandedly torpedoing his hockey career by being an incredible douche.

 

[MiracleOfO2704]

If I had to guess, I don't think the kid has much of a career to torpedo. Hell, just a quick look at his stats makes me wonder if he'd be playing CHL hockey if he weren't the owner's son.

The Firebirds are the spiritual successor of a series of Detroit-area OHL teams, the most recent previous incarnation being the Plymouth Whalers. I'm sure they'd like to stay in the Detroit area, but if they can't find a sane owner to make it happen, Brampton lost a team to North Bay a couple of years ago, so I could see a return there.

 

[Fred not Lynn]

There's a great movie in all this...Micheal Moore meets Slap Shot...

 

[MiracleOfO2704]

So, this sounds bad.

The tl;dl version: Shady owner looking to get his son some OHL time hires a guy to run the team once the OHL says he can't directly control the team that wants to get HIS kid into the OHL next season, and eventually just disregards his agreement with the OHL after the first Gruden firing. The worst part is Nilson bailed on the press, leaving his teenage son to answer questions about the organizational dysfunction.

 

[InstantKarmma]

It's almost like there's something in the water there.







Too soon?

 

[LogansDad]

Not at all, well done.